Jen Onsum- An advocate for people with disabilities

Jen Onsum is a motivational speaker who was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) at the young age of 18 months. SMA affects the muscles throughout the body, but cognitive abilities are not affected. Jen is an advocate for people with disabilities, and she believes they are just as capable of living active lives as any other able-bodied person. We asked her to come to Gustavus to share her story and specifically talk about how different health care providers have impacted her life; we wanted to learn how students who are planning to be health care providers can better care for people with disabilities.